e
been so conceited and so senseless as to do such a thing as this.

Millicent's head ached, and tears filled her eyes, and she thought the
climax had been reached when Elsie Pearson, picking one up at random,
said, laughingly:

"Just listen to this, Milly! It is the gem of the whole collection. I
can't help it if the 'member of the congregation' does see me. She
deserves to be made fun of." And Elsie in a whisper read the following:

"TO THE MARCH WIND.

"Loud and shrill, loud and shrill,
List to the wild March wind!
And the heart of the mariner trembles
As he sails his rudder behind.

"My dear, the 'member' is a little mixed! Does she mean the mariner
sails behind the rudder, or the rudder sails behind the mariner? Did you
_ever_, Millicent? I don't believe she knows which part of a ship the
rudder is. And this is the second verse:

"And the bell on the bleak beach bellows.

"(There's alliteration for you. Fancy a bell bellowing!)

"And the fog-horn lifts its voice,
And the mariner goes to an early grave,
He has no other choice.

"Oh, Milly! isn't it funny? Why don't you laugh?"

"I am laughing," said Millicent, in a hoarse voice; "it makes me
perfectly hysterical," and she hid her face for a moment in her
handkerchief. Fortunately Elsie was at that moment called away.

Millicent found to her cost, as the afternoon wore on, that the climax
had not been even then.

Joanna had come late to the fair, detained by school and luncheon until
four o'clock. She had found no one at home, not even her mother, but she
had heard from the maid a piece of news which caused her heart to bound
with excitement and consternation.

Cousin Appolina had returned very unexpectedly from Washington!

Joanna decided that she must tell Millicent as soon as she reached the
fair, so that the slippers might be removed at once. It would be better
to be on the safe side, although it was extremely improbable that Cousin
Appolina would visit the fair the first day of her return.

But just as Joanna came out of the front door Miss Briggs herself drove
up in her carriage, and learning that no one was at home in either of
her relatives' houses, but that all had gone to the fair, concluded to
betake herself there also, and forthwith invited Joanna to get in and
drive with her to Sherry's.

Joanna, nothing loth, accepted the invitation, feeling rather glad on
the whole that her cousin had returned in time, for